I have picked up this lot of ancient coins and am somewhat concerned about their authenticity. I know they’re worn and not worth much but see some inconsistencies, notably Seleucid nose and mouth and Carthage square stamped style and overall look. I’ve included some pictures and close ups of areas of concern. As one with little experience spotting fakes I am hoping for some help. Thanks in advance!
What makes you think they would be fake? I can't speak for some of them, but the 2 Byzantines don't look fake to me.
They all look solid from here. In some ways, the main, underlying principles of fakery translate well from ancient to medieval (where I hang out most, these days). Two things that should let you breathe easier are the fact that (again, oops, from here) nothing here looks like an obvious rarity, and the levels of wear. Once both of those factors are in play, you have pretty wide latitude to assume that no one would have the motivation to replicate these levels of wear. ...Never mind the patinas, which do a Lot for how solid your examples are.
Personally, I would purchase that Carthage Empire AE. The Obv Bust is of the Goddess TANIT, wearing a grain wreath. The Rev. is Horse with Palm behind. Chalkon is a Greek denomination, and probably not correct for Carthage. Cannot say for certain if either Hanno I or II were the Sufetes (one of two Leaders, similar to the Roman Consuls, over their Blm - similar to the Roman Senate) during your coin's mintage. Their coins did not generally reflect leaders, save for a few later coins under the Barca family, especially minted in Spain. Carthage used a lot of Tanit and Horse themes for a major portion of their coinage. They were great traders, and were ultimately exterminated by the Roman Republic in 146 BCE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Carthage I do not have my SNG COP - North Africa plate book with me to fully attribute... Here are a couple of mine that looks like your size coin: EMPIRE of CARTHAGE Carthage Zeugitana 400-350 BC AE 15 Tanit Horse std Palm 3 pellets Clipped Carthage Zeugitana 400-350 BC AE 15 1.8g Tanit Horse std Palm 3 pellets Carthage Zeugitana 400-350 BC AE 13 2.3g Tanit Horse std Palm
That Antiochus was a massive issue. There must have been hundreds of dies. I wouldn't worry about that nose. It is quite a nice example too. SC
Do yourself and future collectors a favor and take a pair of pliers and squeeze the staples before they damage any coins close by.
Look aight. And that's coming from a professional But I always enjoy knowing where coins come from. Please get rid of the staples. Modern metal should be no where near ancient coins. Your lovely "Herron the great" has bronze disease. Please get it into distilled water ASAP! If you haven't already. There's not only the purple ish signs of damage done, but also that neon green, active coin killerand a clear depression where the current active area is.
1. Seems like there real so thanks for the help in confirming 2. Just put Carthage coin into distilled water what should I do next? 3. Currently using pliers to flatten staples
I also don’t see anything to cause concern from an authenticity standpoint. Just take care with the BD as @Ryro suggests. I’m the last person to give advice on this as I’ve not proven very good at stopping BD before it causes issues but you can find loads of advice on various threads you can look through here. https://www.cointalk.com/search/5729633/?q=Bronze+disease&o=date&c[title_only]=1 I’d also advise taking them out of the stapled holders all together and putting them in Saflips (or equivalent) or else archival quality paper envelopes. Much safer and easier to take out for admiring the coins down the road. There was a recent thread about where to get some of these items here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/2-5-x-2-5-2-x-2-safe-flips.373218/
Give it a few days soak and then scrub with an old toothbrush (it's good if you've cut the bristles a bit), rinse repeat and eventually once there's no trace of the green I personally have had great results putting in the oven at the lowest heat for 30-40 minutes. Topped off with a Verdi care bath. But please, search the board for bronze disease. You'll get world class advice.
I ruined a lovely 1938 silver peso that was probably MS63 with lovely toning with a staple. Rest in pieces